AutoUtility currently tracks 684 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2017 Ram 2500. Brakes & Traction Control issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 503 complaints (73.5% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 12 filings cite a crash, 6 cite a fire, 4 report one or more injuries.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 684 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Brakes & Traction Control (503 reports • 73.5% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Driver Assistance & Safety Tech (128), Electrical System (120)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 12 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 6 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 4 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
684
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
12
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
6
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
4
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2017 Ram 2500

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 73.5% of complaints

Brakes & Traction Control

503 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

  • Campaign #24V896000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP:CONTROL UNIT/MODULE
*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
⚠️ 7 crash reports 🔥 1 fire report 🩹 2 injury report entries
#2 Problem Area 18.7% of complaints

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech

128 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
🔥 1 fire report
#3 Problem Area 17.5% of complaints

Electrical System

120 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
🔥 1 fire report
#4 Problem Area 7.2% of complaints

Steering System

49 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 2 official safety recall campaigns for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
⚠️ 2 crash reports 🩹 2 injury report entries
#5 Problem Area 6.3% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

43 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
🔥 2 fire reports
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2017 Ram 2500

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Brakes & Traction Control NHTSA ODI ID: #11759812
Filed: 08/26/2026

"My heavy-duty Ram truck has a verified C4B HCU braking defect that occurred right after completing Emissions Recall 67A on 07/17/2024. The manufacturer has a severe parts backlog. The truck cannot pass state inspection and is legally grounded. Stellantis is refusing to provide direct-bill alternate..."

Incident Date: 07/17/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: SERVICE BRAKES
Powertrain & Transmission NHTSA ODI ID: #11759480
Filed: 08/25/2026

"Transmission can be put into gear without pressing the brake pedal. A child was placed in truck with no key in ignition. The child pulled shift lever and truck started rolling. Driver quickly pressed brake and stopped truck. This truck had the T79/NHTSA 17V-821 recall fix in 2017. The fix did not..."

Incident Date: 08/19/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN
Powertrain & Transmission NHTSA ODI ID: #11759457
Filed: 08/25/2026

"Motor completely over heated causing the hose to rupture underneath the intake manifold. Engine is unrepairable. Had to order new engine and a new intake manifold because it melted the current one. Also approximately 2 years ago, I also had to replace the transmission. This truck only has 155,000..."

Incident Date: 08/06/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN,ENGINE
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11759191
Filed: 08/24/2026

"My turbo actuator failed and was replaced in February of 2026. This is the same part, manufactured the same year as the recall: LOP#09440301 Both the manufacturer and NHTSA knew of this problem for years, but only fixed a small portion of the impacted vehicles. Please make me whole and refund my..."

Incident Date: 02/25/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
Brakes & Traction Control NHTSA ODI ID: #11755915
Filed: 08/10/2026

"The contact owns a 2017 Ram 2500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V896000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic). The contact stated that while driving on several occasions at various speeds, the ABS warning light illuminated and the messages "Service ABS” and “Service Traction..."

Incident Date: 12/09/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for Ram 2500

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2023)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Ram 2500 214 13 15 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Ram 2500 257 15 14 View 2016 Problems →
2017 Ram 2500 Current Page 684 12 12 Current
2018 Ram 2500 2555 37 10 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Ram 2500 191 8 12 View 2019 Problems →
2020 Ram 2500 163 5 10 View 2020 Problems →
2021 Ram 2500 105 6 8 View 2021 Problems →
2022 Ram 2500 0 0 12 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Ram 2500 0 0 8 View 2023 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2017 Ram 2500

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 94 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 215 5 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 78 1 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES 48 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 35 0 0 0 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 31 1 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES 28 0 1 0 0
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 23 0 1 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES 20 0 0 0 0
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 17 2 1 1 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 13 0 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 12 1 1 5 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 9 0 1 0 0
Suspension NHTSA category: SUSPENSION 7 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION 6 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES 6 0 0 0 0
Wheels & Hubs NHTSA category: WHEELS 6 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 5 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES, AIR 5 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC,SERVICE BRAKES, AIR 5 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 5 0 0 0 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 4 1 0 2 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES 4 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES 4 1 0 2 0
Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 4 0 0 0 0
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),SERVICE BRAKES 3 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 3 0 0 0 0
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 3 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES 3 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 3 0 0 0 0
Tires NHTSA category: TIRES 3 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),SERVICE BRAKES 2 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 2 0 0 0 0
Engine & Cooling NHTSA category: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 2 0 1 0 0
POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES 2 0 0 0 0
SEAT BELTS,SEATS 2 0 0 0 0
Seats & Restraints NHTSA category: SEATS 2 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION,WHEELS 2 0 0 0 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 2 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES 2 0 0 0 0
WHEELS,SERVICE BRAKES 2 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,BACK OVER PREVENTION 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SEAT BELTS 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,WHEELS,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,EQUIPMENT 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,POWER TRAIN 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,POWER TRAIN,EQUIPMENT 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
Forward Collision Avoidance NHTSA category: FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
FUEL SYSTEM, DIESEL,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Doors, Latches & Locks NHTSA category: LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 1 0 0 0 0
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,AIR BAGS,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES, AIR,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC,ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,POWER TRAIN 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC,POWER TRAIN 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC,TIRES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,BACK OVER PREVENTION 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION,POWER TRAIN 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
TRAILER HITCHES 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,BACK OVER PREVENTION 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
WHEELS,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (684). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.

Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (4)

1 OPEN 3 CLOSED

Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)

Official Federal Inquiries: NHTSA opens a defect investigation when safety screening or consumer defect trends indicate a potential unreasonable safety risk. An open investigation is a formal inquiry and does not by itself confirm a defect or result in a mandatory recall.
OPEN Recall Query (RQ) ODI Action #RQ25003
Opened: 2025-07-03 • Currently Active

Post Recall Remedy Brake Transmission Shift Interlock (BTSI) Failure

Affected Component: POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received 14 Vehicle Owner Questionnaire (VOQ) reports and 6 EWR Death & Injury (D&I) reports describing post recall remedy failures of the brake transmission shift interlock (BTSI) system in certain Model Year (MY) 2013-2018 RAM pickup trucks.The subject vehicle models include 1500, 2500, 3500, 4500, and 5500 trucks equipped with a column mounted shift lever.The failures of the BTSI described in the V...

Active federal investigation. Official NHTSA File →
CLOSED Preliminary Evaluation (PE) ODI Action #PE22012
Opened: 2022-11-28 • Closed: 2025-03-03

Loss of Brake Performance

Affected Component: SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP:CONTROL UNIT/MODULE

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation on November 28, 2022, after receiving 134 reports from consumers alleging an intermittent or permanent loss of braking performance in certain 2017-2018 Ram 2500-3500 pickup trucks manufactured by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA). The alleged failures continued to occur at a steady rate across both models, at all speeds, with limited detectability.  Consumers complained that the A...

Closed without associated recall campaign. Official NHTSA File →
CLOSED Engineering Analysis (EA) ODI Action #EA19004
Opened: 2019-12-01 • Closed: 2025-11-20

Steering loss due to linkage separation

Affected Component: STEERING:LINKAGES:DRAG:LINK:CONNECTION

On December 17, 2018, NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation PE18016 to investigate alleged drag link failures in the steering system on model year (MY) 2015 and 2016 Ram 2500 trucks manufactured by FCA US, LLC (FCA).  The drag link failures were found to be due to a safety defect with the steering linkage where the drag link adjustable connector (used to adjust the steering system), held in position by two o...

Closed without associated recall campaign. Official NHTSA File →
CLOSED Preliminary Evaluation (PE) ODI Action #PE18016
Opened: 2018-12-17 • Closed: 2019-12-12

Steering loss due to linkage separation

Affected Component: STEERING:LINKAGES:DRAG:LINK:CONNECTION

On December 17, 2018, NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation (PE) 18-016 to investigate the steering system on model year (MY) 2015 and 2016 Ram 2500 manufactured by FCA US, LLC (FCA). Four complaints were received alleging separation of the drag link, a steering linkage that connects between the right front steering knuckle and the pitman arm on the steering box output shaft. The failures were found to be at...

✓ Resulted in Safety Recall Campaign: 19V021000 Official NHTSA File →
Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.